Steel Carnage - RevB
by Jetstream Artorias
Summary: Ooarai's future is now secure after their victory against the University Strengthened Team. The girls are looking towards the future with renewed hope. However a new challenge looms over the horizon. One not to keep the carrier going, but to save the future of Senshado from itself. With the help of a few new friends, of course. Rated T for Tanks.
1. Prologue - The End of Senshado

**_Chronicles of the Kampfgruppe - The End of Senshado_**

 _This is going to be the last post on my blog, but it may very well be the most important. As I head towards graduation from Kuromorimine, I've had a lot to think about regarding the future. Not just my future, but the future of Tank Sports, especially professional Japanese Senshado._

 _As this may be the only post a lot of you will read on my blog, I feel its pertinent to introduce myself._

 _My name is Yamato Hitomi. I'm currently a 3_ _rd_ _Year high school student at Kuromorimine Women's College, and I'm a Senshado-ka. Specifically I'm a gunner on Kuromorimine's high school team, who once had aspirations to go pro._

 _I was on the championship winning team in the 61_ _st_ _Inter High Senshado Tournament in my first year, and I was on the runner up team on the 62_ _nd_ _and 63_ _rd_ _Inter High Tournaments in my second and third years respectively. And if you're curious, I wasn't in the tank that fell in the water against Pravda in the 62_ _nd_ _Tournament finals, but I did see it happen. I started with Senshado competitively in Seirin Middle School, and I was a starting gunner there during their three year Inter MIddle winning streak as well._

 _You may then be wondering why I suddenly decided that pro Senshado was no longer the way for my future to go. Assuming that I continue as I am now, with my resume I could get picked up by a pro team once I leave college. But I don't think Senshado is going to be big enough for me to make a living from it when I'm old enough to start._

 _Before we start talking about what needs to change, we need to get one fundamental fact about Senshado as we know it today out in the open:_

 _ **Senshado is boring.**_

 _There, I said it. I'm going to talk at length about many other factors, but if only one thing is addressed, it has to be that its boring. 95% of the time is spent waiting around waiting for contact to happen. Matches last upwards of five hours, with maybe twenty minutes of actual fighting ( **source** ). For those of you who've been to live events, how many times have you found yourself reaching for your phone to surf the internet? How many people do you see in the stands reading books or kindles. By contrast, how many people do you see reading a novel at a basketball game? Or a cage fight?_

 _Its not just for the audience though; for crews, matches are just as mind numbingly boring too. Most of the time, we're doing mundane things like, driving to point A on a map, or checking the engine is OK. And if you're a loader? Well, first of all, nobody cares if you're a loader. Seriously, if I were a loader instead of a gunner, my blog would not have survived the past three years._

 _For those of you who want an actual specific example of how dull Senshado is, in the 63_ _rd_ _Inter High tournament during the Pravda vs Ooarai match, the Pravda girls (some of whom were from the reigning championship team, I might add) were having a Cossack dance off, around an oil drum fire, on camera, while Ooarai's tanks were literally less than five hundred metres away from them in a warehouse. Name a combat sport where you can get away with that level of showboating. In fact, name a_ _sport_ _where you can get away with that level of showboating. The closest thing I can think of is actually on the E-Sports scene, with Korean Starcraft Brood War players doing things like clean their glasses mid match versus American opponents, and even then it was no more than five seconds of AFK. That should tell you everything you need to know about the sport._

 _But of course, this is all just opinion and anecdotal evidence, so here's a few facts that back this up. Viewership and attendance for Senshado Matches in every single professional league in Japan has been in decline for the last ten years (_ _ **source**_ _) with a massive sharp drop in the last four years from pro leagues all over the world (_ _ **source**_ _). As a whole, player salaries have dropped by 10% on average, with the average rookie's starting salary being slashed down by 30% (_ _ **source**_ _). The number of high school Senshado license renewals has been on a downward trend for the last five years (_ _ **source**_ _). There is a slight upwards trend from this year in Japan, but that's only because the Senshado World Cup is coming to Japan next year, and whenever the world cup for anything is on, interest goes up without fail (_ _ **source**_ _). And even then, the increase in interest because we're the host nation is absolutely pitiful compared to say what happens to soccer when the FIFA World Cup is near (_ _ **source**_ _), or interest in Judo when the Olympics are coming (_ _ **source**_ _)._

 _The fact is, Senshado is no longer culturally relevant. But how could it be, if the chair of the professional Senshado has been doing everything she can to prevent it from growing?_

 _Let me explain._

 _Senshado is a hard sport to get into. You need to have a tank first of all. You then need to have enough people to crew a tank in roles that are all vital: someone to direct the tank as a Commander, someone to drive the machine (with a license, hopefully), someone to operate the gun, someone to use the radio, and someone to get the job of hauling shells into a breech. Some tanks let you double up on certain roles, but all these roles have to be fulfilled._

 _Consider that for most people even a single tank is far beyond their price range, most people will then need to be part of an organization to even take part (_ _ **source**_ _). For most people, this means that their school needs to have the money lying around to fund a Senshado club, and enough people interested to form a full team. If you're looking to crew just five tanks, the number that most friendly matches are held with between non-competing schools, you'll need twenty to twenty five members. To field ten tanks, the number allowed in the first round of most competitions, that's around forty to still need to get enough interested teammates to do something about it._

 _The sport then really favours having Senshado-ka stick with their teams and avoid transfers. In the professional scene, this isn't actually too big of a deal, and it creates a nice environment where a pro will stick with one, maybe two organizations for her entire career, but what about school and varsity level Senshado where every year you have people graduating and new blood cycling in?_

 _At the middle school to university levels of competition, organization reputation suddenly becomes important. Strong tournament results will attract girls with stronger desire to do well in Senshado, and thus are more likely to put in the time and effort needed to go pro, which will then give strong tournament results which attract stronger Senshado-ka and so on and so on. Strong results in middle school means you're more likely to be chosen for the roster of a championship winning high school team after your trials._

 _High school results are important because this is how you get college and university scholarships that are what pro teams will take massively into account when they're scouting for new talent. Here's where the problem lies though: the vast majority of Senshado scholarships have been given to Kuromorimine Alumni in the last ten years (_ _ **source**_ _). If your school isn't called Kuromorimine, you would probably need to be captain or vice-captain of your team to even be considered for a scholarship (_ _ **source**_ _). The only other schools where regular team members have even a remote chance at securing a scholarship are Pravda and St Gloriana, and even then that's a huge stretch. But it wasn't always like this._

 _Remember how I dedicated a huge section to how Senshado is boring for the tankers? Well, that's about to play into things here. It means that those who still are interested in Senshado at high school probably have aspirations to go pro, or they want an extra-curricular activity that they could literally sleep through to put on their university applications (looking at you, freeloading loaders). This means that all the best tankers will inevitably come to the best schools._

 _However, if we look at the results of the 42_ _nd_ _to the 52_ _nd_ _inter high tournaments, which took place during what many fans call the golden age of Japanese Tank Sports, we can see that despite the massive incentives for all the strongest Senshado-ka to come together and form one or two super-teams, the top eight schools of that time all had at least one grand finals appearance, and the school that performed the best during those ten years was actually St Gloriana with four podium finishes, and two overall wins, with Kuromorimine only getting at most a runner up finish in the 48_ _th_ _, 49_ _th_ _, and 50_ _th_ _tournaments, and a single championship victory in the 42_ _nd_ _tournament, right at the start of our sample. In short, it was a lot more competitive between schools, and the rankings were much more fluid, which you would expect as the rosters go through massive changes every year. Senshado scholarship statistics reflected this, and were handed out fairly evenly among the top four schools of that era, and were still spread out to schools in the bottom half of the top eight as well (_ _ **source**_ _)._

 _That era came to an end when Nishizumi Shiho took over as the chairwoman of the professional league. Its not necessarily her fault per se, its just she has a massive conflict of interest in her current position. This is because Kuromorimine is the largest school and varsity organization that practices Nishizumi Ryu as its primary discipline._

 _Its pretty much an open secret that Nishizumi-san pours her own funds into the Kuromorimine Women's College's School and Varsity teams, but this all started actually at the high school level. They came back in the 52_ _nd_ _Inter High tournament much better equipped than their opponents, swapping out about half of their PzIIIs for Panthers and Tigers, worth about 400 million yen in the process (_ _ **source**_ _). This made the net market worth of Kuromorimine tank roster about 180,000,000 yen more than their next closest rivals, Pravda (_ _ **source**_ _)._

 _This is how the end of Senshado really began: by proving Senshado is a pay to win sport._

 _With Kuromorimine blowing everyone else off the face of the map with literally hundreds of millions of yen of net worth advantage, universities started to give out scholarships more and more to Kuromorimine at the expense of everyone else. By the third year of their winning streak, about 80% of Senshado related scholarships were heading their way, with the remaining 20% heading towards schools which have close ties with another university (anyone wondering how Anzio's Senshado program survived so long, this is why). On top of this, the Nishizumi Ryu Senshado school has been massively promoted in as many official channels as possible, to the point where the captain of their high school team can get interviewed on the national news, sharing a timeslot with professional baseball players. Name another sport where a high school athlete managed to get on a sports programme to talk about their plans after their latest inter-high victory._

 _You can't._

 _Aspiring Senshado-ka then basically have to get into Kuromorimine to have a shot at going pro, and they certainly would not settle for anything else. Why would they, after all, seeing as Senshado is so boring. But the Kuromorimine starting lineup is still the same size. That means that there are a lot of highly skilled Senshado-ka who would have got a spot in another top Sensha-do school, and had the drive and potential to go pro, who are warming the bench at Kuromorimine, and will never get a scholarship based on middle school results, and there are girls on the other teams who are even better than the Kuromorimine starters who may get passed over. Here's a few notable Inter High Championship records just from the last three years:_

 _-Best Gunner: The most shots on target and highest kill shot percentage in a single match was set by then 3_ _rd_ _Year Pravda Gunner Amelie Lacroix-Kuribayashi in the 61_ _st_ _Inter High tournament in their grand finals match against Kuromorimine (_ _ **source**_ _). But Pravda lost that match, so Amelie didn't get her scholarship. Last I heard she's looking to get into sports journalism, hopefully to cover anything other than this crappy dead game._

 _-Best Driver: The tank that had been hit by the least shots per match is Ooarai's Panzer IV, set during the 63_ _rd_ _Inter High championship, driven by 2_ _nd_ _year Reizei Mako (_ _ **source**_ _). She's probably the best driver of the tournament and yet she's a rookie (_ _ **source**_ _). Ooarai's PzIV is the only tank that was never taken out during a match in the 63_ _rd_ _Inter High, if you exclude the post bell KO that Saunders' Firefly landed on them during their first round match._

 _-Best Strategist: Ooarai Girl's Academy's 2_ _nd_ _Year Nishizumi Miho, who you may recognize as the Nishizumi Daughter who transferred out after last year, won the 63_ _rd_ _Inter High championship with enormous numbers, net worth, and total weight disadvantages (_ _ **source**_ _) in every single match. The only reason I omitted firepower as another disadvantage is because they faced Anzio, and the majority of their forces were tankettes with machine guns._

 _You might then think that based on these records, that maybe now that Kuromorimine's Inter High winning streak is well and truly broken, we may be seeing more interest in Senshado again. Well, there are two main reasons the impact of this won't be as widely felt._

 _-Even though these upsets are absolutely huge, they're at the high school level. Not only that, the upsets were Nishizumi Ryu practitioners losing. Do you think that the chairwoman of the professional Senshado committee is going to let her own school of Senshado get negative press like that?_

 _-The losing streak started after a potentially fatal accident. Do you think anyone is going to want to start doing Senshado seriously after seeing that?_

 _But the evidence that these recent trends are too little too late can be seen in the more immediate impact of the most action packed Senshado match of all time. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm not talking about Ooarai's victory over Kuromorimine in the finals of the 63_ _rd_ _Inter High tournament. Its because any talk about_ that _particular match is preaching to the choir at this point. Instead I need to draw our attention to the Ooarai Combined High School Team vs the University Strengthened Team match._

 _We had a dream match earlier this year where the strongest tank crews from the high school and varsity levels came together to fight each other. A match where the a Morser Karl railway gun was taken out by a flying Hetzer launched by an L3/35 (_ _ **Image for scale**_ _). A match which had an M3 Lee send a goddamn Ferris Wheel into a formation of Pershings (_ _ **click for clip**_ _)_ _. A match where three tanks had a chase literally on a rollercoaster track (_ _ **clip**_ _). Was there a sudden increase in sign-ups for Senshado clubs? No. How about an increase in attendance for the Japanese Senshado Pro League? Nope. Did the pro leagues earn new sponsors? Nope._

 _What Senshado got was the real nail in the coffin. Bear in mind this is a sport where somehow high school level competition receives airtime on primetime TV news alongside actual professionals in other sports, but when the biggest upset in the last ten years and the most action packed match of all time happen all within six months of each other. What did we get?_

 _ **Panzer On Crack**_ _(_ _ **Part 2 here**_ _and_ _ **Part 3 here**_ _), Drifting compilations set t_ _o_ _ **Eurobeat**_ _and_ _ **audio from the D1 championship**_ _, and_ _ **Play Of The Game Memes**_ _ **.**_

 _Are pros supposed to inhale memes now? Maybe Captain Shimada can earn royalties on a plushie wielding a bow made of steel cable and leaf springs, that says "Only a Shimada can control the Centurions!" when you press its bellybutton. But none of this is going to help Senshado survive ten years down the line, maybe not even five._

 _I want to close this post, and this blog by saying I love Sensha-do, despite its flaws, I really do. But at the moment, Senshado is on life support, and the doctor is staring at the instruments whilst drowning herself with whiskey._

 _To anyone who's reading this in the future, I really hope that you're laughing at how inaccurate this. But with this many sources backing up my claims, I'm not holding my breath unless I fall into a river_

 _To all my loyal readers, thank you for reading the Chronicles of the Kampfgruppe for all these years, and for sticking around to the very end._

 _This is Yamato Hitomi, signing off._

* * *

Nishizumi Maho would come home to find her mother seething in quiet anger. This was the first time she had seen her mother drink alcohol; in fact she was pretty sure that she had stopped drinking alcohol after she got married to her father, long before she was born.

"Mother... are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," replied Shiho. "I just know that my next board meeting is going to be unpleasant, that's all."


	2. Games and Sports

**Girls und Panzer - Steel Carnage**

 **Chapter 1 - Games and Sports**

The last time Nishizumi Shiho had any kind of alcohol was nineteen years ago, before she found out she was pregnant with Maho. After she found out she was going to be a mother, she simply felt no need to continue drinking, until tonight. She had just taken a look at the latest set of reports she had received, and what they told her took a little bit of digesting.

She downed the whiskey, swallowing it along with her pride, as she looked at the laptop in front of her. She was expecting a call from an old acquaintance, but she couldn't stomach the implications without some inebriation first.

The Skype call came through. Shiho stared at the screen. She double checked the name of the caller: 'Amanomiya Kaoru' in her contacts. She took a deep breath in, and prepared to answer the call. When her resolve had fully mustered itself, she clicked on the little green button.

"Hey! Shiho, you wanted to talk?"

The voice that came from the other side belonged to an exceptionally beautiful woman with a soft jawline and a short pixie haircut. She was still wearing a dark green dress at this time of night.

"Hello Kaoru-san. I see you've still got that Hostess dress sense," said Shiho with a slight smile.

"Oh that? That was a long time ago. Though I must say, it does turn a few heads during board meetings," she replied. "So, what does the Heiress to the Nishizumi Ryu School of Senshado have to say to the organizer of the All Japan Robotics Festival?"

"I… ugh…"

There was a silence that fell across the call.

"Is it about what I told you when Maho started high school?" asked Amanomiya. The smile was gone from her face now. "Though I'm glad you're taking it seriously now, I understand it can't be a nice feeling, knowing your daughter's gunner said that about you."

"Do you have to rub it in now?"

"I'm not rubbing it in, Shiho-san. You know me better than that."

Shiho sighed and reached for the bottle of whiskey next to her. As Shiho pulled the bottle into view, Kaoru raised her eyebrows.

"Huh? That's a rare sight. Shiho-san, you're drinking again?" asked Kaoru.

"What's wrong with me having a drink every now and again Kaoru-san?"

"Shiho," said Kaoru. She paused for a second, wondering if she should add the honorific, but left it out. "Please put the glass down. Look, I'll share a drink with you, but only after we've had the conversation you wanted to have. If you don't, I'll call Tetsu's boss, and have him on the first flight from Munich to Tokyo."

Shiho nodded and complied, putting the bottle and the glass down with a clunk. Then she began to cry.

"Kaoru-san, you tried to warn me!" she said, abruptly stopping. She looked at the screen through blurry tear filled eyes, to check on Kaoru's reaction.

"It's alright Shiho…"

"I should have known better; that you had actually considered everything you said before you told me… I mean, you were once my vice captain, and I still ignored you because of my own pigheaded stubbornness…"

"Shiho, come on, this isn't helping."

"Kaoru-san… I have not made the best decisions. Both as a mother, and as Chairwoman of the Pro League."

"Well then pull yourself together!" snapped Kaoru. "What happened to that Nishizumi Ryu creed? This isn't the woman that lead Tokyo University on a three year winning streak, nor is this the woman that my brother fell in love with!" Shiho snapped up from the shock. Then she nodded. Kaoru also took a calming breath, then she continued. "So, how bad is it?"

"Inter-High tournament attendance has been falling for the past eight years, for both competitors and spectators. But this year saw about a fifteen percent drop in total registered licensed competitors from last year. The total number of tanks fielded in the Inter High championship also fell by about ten percent." Kaoru and Shiho sat in silence. Kaoru's face was passive, whilst Shiho's was pensive. "It hasn't affected the University level scene yet, but we'll feel the crunch in three years. And once University Senshado falls off, well, professional Senshado is next."

"You didn't say anything about Middle School Senshado, nor anything about elementary level bootcamps," said Kaoru. "Does that mean they're doing fine?"

"Yeah, but well, as you know, the steps to becoming a professional are like links in a chain in Senshado; if any part of your chain breaks, your career just stops. You should start young, otherwise you have almost no chance. Senshado is just that hard to learn, because there's so many variables and factors within your own machine, let alone those of your teammates, which then gets compounded even more when you have opponents." Kaoru nodded silently in agreement. Shiho knew that this was common sense to Kaoru, but she felt she had to start from there. She was in a way still steeling herself.

"So you're saying that at the high school level the game is failing?"

"Senshado isn't a game to me."

"Nor to me," said Kaoru quickly. "But listen, Shiho, can you humour me for a second? What do you think the difference is between a game and a sport?"

"... I'm not sure. What do you mean?"

"The difference lies in what the audience is here to see." Shiho stopped to consider what Kaoru was saying for a second. When Kaoru was satisfied that Shiho had nothing else to add at that exact moment, she continued. "A sport is where the main attraction is the skill and talent of the players when they perform incredible feats. For instance, in basketball, you would be a fool to deny that say a well aimed three pointer that falls straight into the hoop without touching the rim, or a drive from a forward that goes through multiple players is skilful, and these often form the highlights of the match. A game is where the highlights are not skilful moments, but are just huge spectacles. Like how in pro wrestling the most memorable moments aren't the parts where they're grappling, but during high flying stunts and moves."

"And you're saying Senshado is such a game in the eyes of the audience?"

"Naturally. It can be a bit difficult to make the connection for someone like yourself who has lived Senshado all her life," said Kaoru. "But if you explain the concept of Senshado to an outsider, they picture tanks blowing each other up. I can tell you when my family came to watch matches, they didn't expect to sit through four hours of scouting and manoeuvring across a field with maybe fifteen minutes of fighting, where even our ace gunners average a thirty percent hit rate on a good day. When you compare it to a perfect drift in the D1 Grand Prix, or a knockout in boxing or MMA, Senshado from the eyes of the viewer doesn't compare once the novelty wears off. But of course, the audience engagement problem is compounding the _real_ problem of dwindling interest in participation in Senshado… are you alright Shiho? Sorry, aside from the difference between a game and a sport, I'm just rambling about obvious things to you, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are stating the obvious," said Shiho. "But, I need to hear someone else say it please."

"Senshado is not easy to get into, but when the rewards at the end are so low compared to the effort you need to put in, its hard to want to start Senshado seriously in the first place. After all, the number of pro Senshadoka are still not dropping that sharply, but let me guess, the average salary has gone down quite a bit, especially for rookies?" Shiho's silence said more than any affirmation ever could. "I see…"

"Because I didn't recognize these differences between Senshado and other sports as something which would push potential participants and fans away, I let Senshado become _**boring**_ under my watch! And now because of this, I'm in a situation where I'm about to leave my daughter nothing when I retire. Kaoru, I need your help."

"Well, I mean, I what could I help you with?"

"You said you run the All Japan Robotics Festival right? This year, doesn't it come to Kumamoto?"

"Yes," said Kaoru. "No… you're not thinking of joining our main stage are you?"

"The main stage is just the beginning," said Shiho. "Please. I know this sounds like I'm just leeching off the success of your show, but I promise together we can do something bigger than we ever could if we worked separately. I've still got good pull with the broadcasters. I need to secure my organization's future. Your organization needs to break through its current ceiling. What do you say?"

"Hah! That's the Shiho I know!" said Kaoru smiling from ear to ear. "So, what exactly are you thinking of?"

"A new tournament," said Shiho, her air of depression ebbing out of her voice, allowing her enthusiasm to flow in. "One that won't clash with the Inter-High Championship. One that brings out the excitement of Senshado, and breathes new life into it."

* * *

 **Next Time on Steel Carnage**

"Huh? Isn't that Instructor Chouno on TV?"

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to Mecha Paintball!"

"Why's Maho stepping into the ring!? And... isn't that Amelie Lacroix-Kuribayashi!?"

"You think Senshado will be saved with this?"


	3. The World Could Always Use More Tankers

**Girls und Panzer - Steel Carnage**

 **Chapter 2 - The World Could Always Use More Tankers**

Normally Miho had no reason to watch anything related to the All Japan Robotics Festival, let alone invite the rest of Anglerfish team for a viewing party.

However, the sports channel had an 'event' from the robotics festival for the first time, and though Miho had heard bits and pieces about previous robotics festivals from acquaintances in middle school and even one or two classmates in Black Forest. The main attraction - Mecha Paintball, was getting televised for the first time this year, something which Miho had been acutely aware of for the past two weeks thanks to all the adverts which had been airing on TV.

However what clinched it was a quick message that was sent to her from Maho, telling her to tune in to the broadcast and to watch the entire main event.

"Its been a while since we've done a house party like this, isn't it?" said Miho.

"A party with Nishizumi-dono is always the best!" said Yukari as she made herself at home.

"I know," said Saori. "Miporin, do you mind if I borrow the cooker?"

"No problem," said Miho. "Let me give you a hand in the kitchen."

"I'll help with setting the table," said Hana. "Ah, Mako-san, please just lie down for now! You've worked hard today in practice."

"And keep that ice pack on your head!" said Saori. "Your grandma would kill me if she found out you had a concussion! Then she'd come after you next!"

"It was really unfortunate the Tiger blew out in practice right in front of us," said Miho. "But for now, take it easy Mako-chan."

"You don't need to tell me twice," replied Mako. She tried to reach for the Boko doll that Miho had left on the couch, but Miho got there first.

"Please just ask me for help next time," said Miho as she rescued her plushie, before heading back to the kitchen to look for food in her fridge.

"Will do, but you were busy," said Mako pointing to the kitchen. Miho came out of the fridge with ingredients.

"Mako-chan, could you turn on the TV for us?" said Saori. "We're here to watch Mecha-Paintball after all. We may as well have the rest of the card up."

The TV blinked to life as Mako turned it on. What greeted them was a very familiar face.

"Huh? Isn't that Instructor Chouno on TV?" said Yukari. "What's she doing commentating on mecha paintball?" There was a clattering of activity as Miho burst out of the kitchen. The only thing stopping Saori from doing the same was the curry pot that was simmering in the kitchen. "Hey! It really is the instructor!"

"Yukari, calm down," said Mako. "But this is interesting. There's no reason for a Nishizumi Ryu tanker to be at this event." Mako then turned up the TV whilst propping herself up more on the couch.

"Actually, there is. The All Japan Robotics Festival is taking place in Kumamoto Province. That's where the Nishizumi Ryu School and Kuromorimine originated from," said Yukari. "People have noticed that Mecha Paintball has similarities to Senshado. So its like the older sister is coming to give the younger sister some pointers and cheer them on!"

"I see," said Miho. She smiled a little as the interview played out.

" _... panzers. This game is pretty interesting," said Ami as the interview continued. "Of course, its more focused on single combat than it is on team combat in Senshado, and the fact that most Mecha tend to have a single pilot emphasizes this. The point system also makes it a little different from Senshado because you effectively have to win non stop battles over a five minute period. Senshado used to work like that before black boxes too."_

The camera panned back around to the woman interviewing Ami. In contrast to Ami's military style clean and smart appearance, her interviewer looked like she didn't belong anywhere near a wrench or an engine. Her black wavy hair was let loose and flowed in the wind, her nonspecific vaguely techie vaguely military uniform was perhaps half a size too small for her, and her skin was too clean to have seen a day in a garage.

" _Thanks for your valuable insight Chouno-san," said the interviewer whose name Miho hadn't quite caught yet. "And now we go back to our studio to walk us through the card for tonight."_

"Hmm," said Miho as she watched the programme. Truth be told, she was a little surprised at the production values that the show had, as she watched the thirty second transition from Ami to the studio. She'd never heard of the All Japan Robotics Festival before last week, but here it was on national TV.

The picture switched to the inside of what looked like a news studio. There was a man and a woman sat behind a gun metal gun metal grey news anchor's desk, wearing what looked like lab coats. The hosts both looked too ridiculously handsome to be calling a sport based around heavy machinery.

" _Greetings and Salutations, whether you are here, or at home watching, the wait is over, it is time for the main event. I'm your host Zenya-P," said the man_

" _And I'm Annalise," added the woman. "And Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Mecha Paintball! Make some noise!"_

The camera panned across the crowd all taking their seats in a soccer stadium to watch the Mecha Paintball fights.

"Is it just me, or does this feel like it's a lot more… uh energetic than a Senshado match?" asked Saori.

"I have to agree," said Hana. "Maybe only Shinzaburou could match their excitement during Ooarai's matches."

"My parents definitely weren't this enthusiastic," said Yukari.

"These guys are here for the games, not for the teams," added Mako, adjusting the ice pack on her forehead.

There were enormous screens set up in the centre of the stadium, which were showing what Miho recognized as a disused industrial area on the way to her old elementary school.

The broadcast then switched to the image that was being shown on the monitors. There was debris, industrial containers, old abandoned vehicles and all sorts of obstacles in the way. To the casual observer, it looked like piles of junk were thrown across the warehouse, however to the trained eyes of the Anglerfish team, it was clear that the layout of the inside of the warehouse was very deliberate to provide even cover. The voices of the announcers came over the air.

" _Today's arena will be the grounds surrounding this abandoned warehouse.. With a play area of five hundred by five hundred metres, we anticipate thrilling close quarter battles, of course, the kind that you love, with plenty of cover for both sides to use," said ZP._

" _That is correct, and close quarter battles really_ is _on the cards today, just looking at our competitors for this evening. But before we go through the fight card, let's bring the beginners up to speed, shall we?" asked Annalise._

" _That we should my beautiful co-host, that we should, so, without further ado, here are the basic constants of Mecha Paintball."_

The broadcast changed to show a screen with blocky basic, renditions of humanoid mecha. One of them looked suspiciously like the original Gundam and the other, a red Zaku, squaring off against each other on a grey flat floor.

"Using Mobile Suits to explain how things work?" asked Miho.

"It works," said Mako. "This _is_ the All Japan Robotics Festival, so of course there's be a Gundam or two on display."

" _Mecha Paintball is a one on one contest between two machines, armed with our state of the art simunition rounds. During a match, the goal is to score as many points as possible by landing damaging shots on the opposing mech," said Annalise._

To demonstrate the point the Gundam lookalike raised its gun and began to shoot at the Zaku lookalike, with each shot scoring more and more the closer to the centre of mass it was landing.

" _The mecha which either reaches the predetermined score limit or has the most points when time is up will be declared the winner. However, that is not the only way to win Mecha paintball," said ZP. "The other common win condition for Mecha Paintball, is by knockout!"_

The 3D rendition of the Gundam had been placed next to the Zaku, and threw a perfect right hook into the Zaku's chin, causing it to fall to the floor, and for the Gundam model to raise both its arms in victory.

" _If one machine is judged as being unable to continue fighting, the match ends immediately, and the opponent s declared the winner"_

" _Similarly, if a machine leaves the bounds of play and fails to return within a reasonable amount of time, that machine is considered Out of Bounds and disqualified."_

An animation of the Zaku running away from the Gundam, towards the edges of an orange-ish red square accompanied the explanation. A countdown appeared above the Zaku's head as it left the ring, and once it hit zero, the Zaku collapsed to the floor in defeat.

" _Of course, those are just the basic rules. You will see in tonight's matches that each league will have different specifics, including how scoring works, or even how to win a match, but don't you worry folks! We're here to guide you along the way," said Annalise._

"Somebody had a lot of fun animating these," said Mako.

"Fun…" said Miho noncommittedly.

"Anything wrong Miporin?" asked Saori as she peered out of Miho's kitchen. The sound of cooking echoed behind her voice.

"Nothing! I'm coming back!" replied Miho. As the girls continued to cook, and the All Japan Robotics Festival continued on, behind the scenes, warriors prepared to do battle.

* * *

This was surreal. Maho wasn't sure how or when her mother got her this particular match, but the time for surprise was over. She was sat in the commander's position on the inside of her tank, looking at the interior of her family's own Panzer IV.

There were small tape marks on the hatch of the cupola, where Miho had once affixed a crude drawing of Boko the Bear, recently removed because of a few renovations. One of the levers had a small wooden charm tied to it Maho remembered buying it at a shrine before her first match as acting commander in middle school. It seemed to have worked back then, because she went undefeated throughout her middle school career.

' _I wonder if the magic's wearing off,'_ she thought. _'Or maybe its because I've outgrown such things.'_

Indeed, if she had known back when she was fourteen what things were like now, she would not have believed in silly things like good luck charms. Indeed the interior of the family owned Panzer IV was a testament to how much things had changed.

Indeed, there were many little but noticeable changes to the inside of the Panzer IV. The rounds in the ammunition storage compartment were a bright green instead of a more realistic looking colour; Maho had been told they were paint rounds for Mecha Paintball, and thus were filled with fluorescent paint. There were additional small dark coloured boxed mounted to the interior of the tank, all with blue blinking lights in the shape of a Wi-Fi symbol, the addition of more modern tech contrasting massively with the faithfully recreated World War Two era interior of the tank. The view ports for the driver and commander had been sealed off with what appeared to be carbon fibre plates over the slits, and a lot of the hard edges had been covered by a protective greyish yellow foam padding, to try and reduce head injuries inside the tank.

Maho then regarded the object sitting in her hands with mild curiosity. It was a VR headset built into what appeared to be a hard hat, designed to fit her head perfectly, and was currently connected wirelessly to the cameras on the outside of the tank through the wireless signal boxes; allegedly they were connected to a system separate from the black boxes to allow the crews of knocked out tanks situational awareness of when it was safe to leave their vehicle, or possibly to alleviate claustrophobia.

' _I was wondering when they would make external cameras mandatory. Sticking your head out of the cupola is far too dangerous a practice.'_

There was a similar headset on the driver's seat, to allow them to see outside the tank without the use of the viewports. The gunner's scope had been replaced with a fixed holographic screen. Maho had remembered the reaction of her mother when she saw the degree of computer assistance the gunners would get, and though she had initially thought it a little cheapening of the efforts of the gunner, Shiho had since come around to understand that it was a necessity for a World War Two era replica tank armed with manually operated weapons to compete in its next match.

Maho's train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the cupola. She opened it up and found herself face to face with her gunner.

"Oh hi Hitomi," said Maho. "Coming to do some equipment calibration?" The girl in question was very nondescript, Maho had to admit. She stood at an average height for a Japanese high schooler at just over one and a half metres tall, with her short dark hair tied back in a ponytail to keep it away from her face.

"Yeah," replied Hitomi, as she tried to climb in. "Well, it's not just this, I have a few questions to ask you before I start messing with the gunner's station." Maho nodded. She was mentally prepared for this. "Is it OK for me to gun in this match?"

"You know, I was _completely_ in charge of the team roster for tonight," said Maho. "You wouldn't be here if I had my doubts."

"Hmm… well, its just… I did write that article," said Hitomi sheepishly. "And I've noticed a lot of the girls are looking at me like they want to rip out my hair."

"Want to take back your words?" asked Maho.

"No, I genuinely believe everything I wrote," said Hitomi firmly. "But I thought that would have affected your decision to let me stay, especially since a lot of it concerned your mother."

"I'll let you in on something," said Maho. "Mother has known about a lot of the issues you brought up for a long time. It's just she has very fond memories of Senshado growing up, and she could not bear to change it until very recently."

"I see…"

"It's not like what you said was untrue. You even cited sources, which is something a lot of her critics in Kuromorimine didn't bother do. Besides, you were nice enough to leave out the glaring safety concerns which have only really been addressed now," said Maho, motioning to the foam pads on the hard metal edges and corners. Hitomi was flabbergasted at Maho's reply.

"Er… I gotta be honest, I didn't even think about the concussion risks," said Hitomi. "I guess I've gotten accustomed to it, and have been lucky enough not to need it so far."

"Let's hope it stays that way then," said Maho. "So in answer to your concerns, I have no issues with you gunning for me today."

"Thanks," said Hitomi. "… I should get started with my equipment check." She buttoned up the cupola of the tank. The sound of footsteps on metal echoed through the tank, then the driver's hatch opened with a creak, followed by Hitomi sliding into her seat feet first. "Though, really, I think I'm just looking for an excuse to admire the new aiming assistance we get on the gun," Hitomi added as she booted up the screen on where the gunner's periscope would be. "It gives you projected projectile paths, and can be controlled from a tablet if the 3D screen hurts your eyes! This is easy mode compared to before!" Hitomi's sudden enthusiasm made Maho do a double take, before she laughed. It had been a while since she had laughed; last time was when Miho came to visit and get her papers signed.

Maho was shaken out of her thoughts by the voice of an emcee.

" _Fighting out of the north corner! Hailing all the way from Manchester, England, piloting the twenty eight tonne Suidobashi Heavy Industries Kuratas Revision C, it's the British Bulldog… Joshuaaaa… ROSENTHAAAAAAAL!"_

"Hey, captain, can I get your honest opinion?" asked Hitomi. "Do you think Senshado will be saved with this?" Maho contemplated her answer. She had already been briefed on what the future held; it made what she was about to take part in today a mere sideshow in the world of Senshado. She considered her answer carefully, trying to separate her own thoughts from what her mother had told her, a practice which she had found increasingly difficult as she got older.

" _And from the south corner! From Ibaraki Prefecture, piloting the twenty two tonne X-Cat… with a record of over half her fights ending with a stoppage, the Knockout Queen… Hachijo… REI!"_

"Professional Senshado will survive. But it's going to change so much that I'm not sure if we could call it Senshado anymore. It's like you said, compared to what's out there, Senshado is boring."

* * *

The Anglerfish team were glued to the television screen. They were watching the closing moments of the first Mecha Paintball match of the day. A gun metal grey four legged spider like mech, roughly the size of the Panzer IV with a turret on top, was backing up rapidly, using the cover afforded by the obstacles littered around the industrial estate to break contact with its opponent. Though it was not technically a tank, it's design meant that it was essentially a tank with legs, and thus the Anglerfish team understood what it was doing; using cover to mask one's silhouette was a key tactic in tank combat.

However, the Kuratas Rev C's opponent made virtually no sense to the girls. A seven metre tall dull green humanoid mech seemed to be skating around the arena of play circling the Kuratas, with an arm mounted gun on its right arm, and a pile driver on its left.

"OH! Joshua's been cornered!" screamed Saori. "C'MON! FIGHT!"

"You're getting into this," said Miho.

"Of course! There's a tall dark and handsome stranger in this!"

" _The match is heating up!"_ said Zenya-P. _"Less than a minute to go! Rosenthal leads the match sixty three to forty nine, a twenty four point lead on the smaller mech, and if the timer runs out its going to go to the Kuratas for sure!"_

" _But Hachijo has been slowly steering him into a physical corner through the entire match! We've seen this before ladies and gents, this is the way that she has consistently been setting up that quick and lethal close range fight she wants."_

Despite the fact that Joshua Rosenthal's Kuratas Revision C had a comfortable lead in points, thanks in huge part to its much better gun, it was backing away from its opponent as though it was about to lose. As the time remaining in the match began to dwindle, so did the number of routes the Kuratas Rev C have left to escape.

"The spider tank is about to fire," said Hana, her eyes unblinking. As a gunner, she could see when a tank gun was being handled well, and she knew that the Kuratas Rev C's pilot was no slouch for pulling into the lead against such a fast opponent.

The Kuratas Rev C tried to shoot the X-Cat with the gun on its back, but the two legged humanoid machine was too agile. A quick lean and a change of direction, and the paint round sailed harmlessly over its right shoulder, leaving an orange splat on the wall of the warehouse in the distance. Suddenly the two mechs were practically on top of each other. The X-Cat threw a left punch towards the body of the mech. The arm clattered against the front right leg of the spider tank, and the X-Cat bounced off.

" _OH!"_ said Annalise. _"Rosenthal blocks!"_

"OOOH!" echoed Saori. "Its over!"

"No it's not," said Mako.

" _The piledriver's still primed!"_ said Zenya-P, almost at the exact same time as Mako.

As the thin humanoid mech spun around, it skated between the front legs of the Kuratas Rev C, and used its right arm to block the Kuratas' turret gun and direct it to point over its left shoulder.

"HOLY SHIT!" shouted Yukari. "It's lights out!"

The X-Cat leaned in forward, almost as if it were diving towards the floor, underneath the Kuratas' turret, straight towards the front glacis if it were a real tank. It was aiming an overhead punch towards the top of the main chassis of the Kuratas Rev C. There was a loud boom as the piledriver's spike extended and punched straight down. The Kuratas was hit so hard that its front chassis almost slammed into the ground, and its front legs were forced to skid across the concrete floor, with a sound so horrible it had literally drowned out the end round buzzer.

The Kuratas was unmoving. It had taken a hit that was too severe, and had triggered the black box inside the tank to register it as knocked out.

" _What a finish!"_ said Zenya-P. _"But is it legit?"_

" _Ladies and gentlemen we are waiting for confirmation from our judges on whether the Kuratas Rev C was knocked out before or after the final buzzer,"_ said Annalise. _"Our camera teams are synching footage and telemetry right now… and here it is!"_

Their screens showed a slow motion replay of the overhand punch that came for the X-Cat in the closing moments of the fight. One of the many high speed cameras littered throughout the stage had somehow managed to capture the point of impact, and was playing back the footage slowed down to a crawl.

The girls all held their breath as they watched the pile driver extend out towards the gun metal grey armour of the Kuratas. In the top left corner there was a timer, displaying the time remaining in the match down to a thousandth of a second as the replay continued.

" _Remember ladies and gentlemen, if the final attack hits the armour before the match time finishes, the knockout will be considered good,"_ said Zenya-P, almost in a whisper.

" _This ruling is in place due to the time delay required by our scoring telemetry to actually register and score a hit. Don't look away, its going to be close,"_ said Annalise.

Half a second left; the X-Cat's left arm was primed and in position. Quarter of a second left; the heat from the pile driver's mechanism was distorting the air around the armour. Tenth of a second left; the pile driver's spike had accelerated to full speed and was closing in.

Time up.

The piledriver's spike had about two centimetres to go before it touched the armour. The replay moved to full speed as the crowd went wild, showing the destruction that was unleashed onto the body of the Kuratas, punching a serious dent into its armour plate.

" _And there you have it! The judges have called it! The winner is Joshua Rosenthal and the Kuratas Revision C!"_ said Annalise.

" _What a nailbiter of a match, and what a finish to our first fight of the main event!"_ said Zenya-P.

The girls all breathed a sigh; the tension of the match had caught up with them, and they were completely blindsided by how much they were invested in the match.

" _Whew! I need to get more water, but don't go anywhere, we have a very special match for you coming up next after the break!"_ said Zenya-P.

" _Yes, stick around for a show match, which could very well show us the future of Mecha Paintball. Don't go away."_

There was silence in Miho's apartment as a Morning Rescue commercial played.

"Oh… the curry's gotten cold," said Miho, as she tucked into her half eaten plate. The others did the same, following the example of their commander.

"That match was incredible," said Yukari between bites of her food. "It's fast, action packed…"

"But why did Maho-san want us to watch this?" asked Hana.

"I'm not sure," said Miho. "I mean, she's not answering my calls. I guess she's busy, I'm sure it'll become clear soon."

The inter-match period had ended pretty quickly, and the announcers had come back to surprisingly little fanfare. Whilst the girls were eating and talking through the analysis of the match, suddenly Miho heard something that had grabbed her attention.

" _Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back to our main event, we have one hell of a match lined up for us!"_ said Zenya-P.

" _We're in Kumamoto Prefecture, the home of the Nishizumi Ryu Senshado school, so we thought, why not see how a former tanker does against a tank crewed by one of the best teams in the high school circuit."_

"… no way… that Panzer IV is owned by our family!" said Miho suddenly, pointing at the screen. Indeed, she had recognized the Panzer IV that the team had kept in the garage.

"You guys have an Ausf A just sitting around?" said Yukari.

Just to top it all off, Maho Nishizumi had her head out of the cupola as the tank drove into the recently cleaned arena. "Why's Maho stepping into the ring!?"

" _Fighting out of the north corner. A team of home town heroines from Kumamoto Prefecture, crewing the Panzer Mark 4 World War Two era battle tank, weighing in at twenty five tonnes, its Senshado Royalty from Kuromorimine, commanded by Nishizumiiii… MAAAAHOOOOO!"_

Maho had buttoned up her tank. She had parked in the northernmost corner of the battle arena, putting the warehouse between herself and the southernmost corner. The camera switched to show a tall slim girl with copper coloured hair ascending into the cockpit of her , which seemed to just be a giant gun with two legs and a cockpit mounted on it, for lack of a better description. However, upon closer inspect, they could see the grappling hooks from the mech itself.

"And…" said Yukari before cutting herself off. She recognized the girl who was closing up her cockpit. "Isn't that Amelie Lacroix-Kuribayashi!?"

"Who?" asked Hana.

"The gunner with the highest kills per match in a single Inter High tournament in the last ten years, and with the highest number of tanks knocked out in a single match!" said Yukari

" _And in the south corner, a former Senshadoka herself living in Osaka, but born in Lyons, France. The most lethal gunner in the last ten years of Japanese High School Senshado. Piloting the twenty four tonne Black Widow, she's got you in her sights! It's Amelie… Laaacroooiiiix-KURIBAYASHIIIIII!"_

* * *

 **Next Time on Steel Carnage**

" _Ladies and Gentlemen, both corners have completed their final checks and have signalled they are ready. So please make some noise for the first ever Mech vs Tank Match in the history of Mecha Paintball!"_


	4. Mechanical Martial Arts

**Chapter 03 - Mechanical Martial Arts**

The wait for their match to start was agonizing for the crew of Kuromorimine's refurbished Panzer IV. Though it would not be wrong to make the assumption that they were nervous because of who their opponent was, the real reason for their unease was due to unfamiliarity.

Senshado has only allowed tanks which had a prototype built before the 15th of August 1945. This meant that the list of legally useable tanks had stayed virtually the same since the sport's inception. For the girls at Kuromorimine, it meant that they would never deal with any unfamiliar machines during normal matches and training, and would always at have at least some idea of what their opponent could do. The Black Widow changed that. It's workings may as well have been totally alien to the girls.

It also did not help that they were relatively unpracticed with the new equipment in the tank. Sure, the improved optics did help them bring more out of their machine, and did bring them up to par with the mecha they were expected to fight. But the raised skill floor also came with a raised skill ceiling, especially when it came to gunning. Maho had the suspicion that the improvements actually benefitted her opponent more than they did to her.

 _"Attack commencing in thirty seconds,"_ said a mechanical female voice that echoed through the crew compartment of the Panzer IV.

The thiry second warning released the tension that had been building in the crew. Their driver let out a sigh that Maho was sure she didn't know she was holding. Hitomi was now performing deep breathing exercises to steady herself. Their loader was juggling a shell from arm to arm, partly trying to feel for the weight, and partly as a prematch ritual for herself, and to get herself warmed up. If Maho was correct, she would be loading the gun at a blisteringly fast pace once they made contact in their little 500 by 500 meters square.

 _"Attack commencing in ten seconds."_

The engine of the Panzer IV started to rev. The radio operator was now drumming her fingers on the controls.

 _"Five."_

Maho rolled her neck. The weight of the headset still felt a little strange to her, as did the rolling point of view she experienced on the inside of the headset.

 _"Four."_

The shipping containers littered throughout the arena would definitely obscure their vision, despite the near 360 visibility now afforded to the Panzer IV crew.

 _"Three."_

The Black Widow was definitely capable of playing peekaboo over the boxes.

 _"Two."_

This was yet another factor against the Panzer IV.

 _"One."_

Therefore there was only one option left.

 _"Fight."_

"Driver, take us towards the warehouse!" said Maho.

The Panzer IV lurched forward. The opening seconds of the match were filled with the sounds of the Maybach engine working to push the tank to a better position, occasionally punctuated by the metallic clangs of the Black Widow's footsteps. The Panzer IV wove between the shipping containers toward the warehouse in the center of the arena.

Once the Panzer IV drove up to the warehouse the metallic footfalls of the Black Widow stopped reaching their ears. It was as if the building itself had erased all evidence of there being an opponent for the Panzer IV to even fight. However with them holding that particular position, even if they could not hear their opponent approaching they had limited the angles of attack that their opponent could take, so whenever the Black Widow appeared, they could fire on it immediately.

One minute passed, then two. There were no signs of the Black Widow making any attempt to attack the Panzer IV. Maho was about to order them to shut off the engine when suddenly two loud clangs echoed from above their heads. Maho strained her neck trying to look for the source of the noise, but to no avail .

 _'Is she trying to spook us?' thought Maho._

Suddenly a mechanical whirring signaled more movement. Before long there was a second, much louder clunk of metal on metal, again originating somewhere above their heads. Hitomi responded turning the gun towards the walls of the warehouse, pointing the end of the gun at the upper part of the wall where it met the roof. Maho craned her neck up as well, trying to spot the enemy. Then, without warning, she found it, clinging to the side of the wall.

"Target spotted! Ten O'Clock high," said Maho. Before she had even completed her sentence, the main gun had fired at the enemy. The Black Widow was faster though, and had leapt off the wall before Hitomi could react and adjust her aim at the mech. There was a thud as fluorescent green paint splattered all over the warehouse wall. The Black Widow seemed to glide through the air, perfectly still without any rolling or tumbling. It took about a second for Maho to realize that the main cannon on the mech was still pointed at the Panzer IV.

"Angle us!" called Maho.

The Panzer IV turned to angle itself, but it wasn't fast enough. The paint round that came from the Black Widow struck the turret of the tank, bright orange fluorescent splatter

"They've taken the lead!" said the radio operator. "Three points to zero!"

Maho was surprised at how few points the Black Widow just scored. This little exchange proved to her that the most important factor in winning these matches was precision rather than quantity of hits. Just like in regular Senshado.

The Black Widow landed behind a shipping container breaking contact between itself and the Panzer IV. Hitomi was already bringing the gun around to aim above the Black Widow's cover. The next moment of contact was quick. The Black Widow leapt over the container it was hiding behind, trying to get over it. However Hitomi was already aiming there, and fired the instant it came into view.

The green paint shell hit the mech in the leg. It did not destabilize the mech as it jumped, but it did stop it from vaulting over the container. The mech crashed into the obstacle and seemed to fall backwards behind it, though the lack of excessive noise suggested it had managed to prevent itself from losing balance.

 _'How is that two legged machine staying so stable?'_ thought Maho.

"Gun ready!" said the loader, patting Hitomi on the shoulder.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of two grappling lines being launched at the warehouse. Maho's eyes followed the lines, and saw that they seemed to just stick to the wall with an echoing clang.

 _'So they're magnetized...'_ thought Maho.

Hitomi had managed to turn the turret to face the anchor point the grappling lines had managed to attach to. The Black Widow then zipped up the lines, and then attached its feet to the wall, the electromagnets in its feet activating with a clang...

...and was struck by a fluorescent green paint round for its trouble. Hitomi was already pre aiming at that location and the direct hit was enough to propel their score forward into the lead. The Black Widow's torso pitched up so that the gun was aimed at the Panzer IV upside down. It returned fire but the Panzer IV had already turned to angle itself. The paint round this time did little more than leave a huge orange smear across the side of the hull.

"We're up! Seven to three!"

 _'So it's possible to have hits that don't score points at all...'_ thought Maho.

This time it seemed the Black Widow had no interest in coming off the wall unless the Panzer IV forced it to do so. What followed in the next thirty seconds or so was an exchange of fire between the wall clinging mech versus the ground bound tank. The mech had the advantage of height, which meant that it was able to negate some of the Panzer IV's cover, and its agility was going to be much better. The Panzer IV had the advantage of a more stable platform to fire from, compared to a mech anchored to a wall anyway, and the split of duties between multiple crew members meant they were able to act more efficiently.

A few more solid hits on the Black Widow and subsequently gaining the point lead were enough to convince the Black Widow to leave its perch. Maho took the opportunity while the Black Widow scrambled behind cover to get an update on the situation.

"What's the score?" said Maho

"We're leading twenty one to sixteen."

"Alright, driver pursue!"

The crew were all working in near perfect sync with each other. The loader had managed to load the next shell whilst the Panzer IV was in transit, and Hitomi had already pre aimed the next shot towards where they anticipated their adversary would be hiding around the steel container, with the turret turned to the left at a forty five degree angle. However as they rounded the corner, two loud clunks echoed through the crew compartment of the tank, and had actually caused some slight visual noise in the VR headsets, blurring their vision in the left of their field of view.

When the noise had cleared up, Maho suddenly realized why there was interference with the cameras on the tank.

"Brace for impact! Driver keep spinning the tank, gunner fire at will!" shouted Maho. The Black Widow had attached the two magnetic grappling hooks to the side of the Panzer IV, linking the tank to the mech's hip joints, and was now using this to keep the vulnerable side armour in front of its main gun. The Panzer IV tried to spin away from the incoming Black Widow's charge, but it didn't work. The two machines collided with a skin crawling scrape that threatened to throw the Panzer IV crew off their seats. As it was, they barely managed to hold on.

During the collision, both machines fired. The Panzer IV's shot flew wide over the Black Widow but the mech's shot landed cleanly. Before the exchange could continue, the Black Widow sidestepped towards the Panzer's rear trying to outrun the gun.

"Thirty seconds left!" shouted the radio operator. "Two points behind!"

It was a do or die moment for the crew. The Panzer IV continued to turn to face the Black Widow, but at the rate they were going they would never catch it.

"Gunner! Lead your aim but don't' fire," said Maho, hoping that she would get the idea of what she wanted the tank to do.

Hitomi flicked the barrel of the gun past the Black Widow as though she were waiting for it to sidestep. The Black Widow suddenly stepped back in the other direction, towards the Panzer IV's front.

"Ram it!"

The Panzer IV collided into the legs of the taller machine, pushing it back. Maho's suspicions were correct in that the Black Widow would have far less pushing power. The cables linking the two machines together would absolutely kill the mech's agility, and this meant that now there was virtually no escape from what happened next.

Though the Black Widow managed to get a shot into the Panzer IV's turret, it was unable to escape before it was pinned against another shipping container. With nowhere for the Black Widow to escape, and ten seconds to go, there was only one shot left for the Panzer IV to take. The turret of the Panzer IV spun to face the Black Widow's chassis...

"Gun ready!" shouted the loader.

A huge green paint splat had appeared on the mech. After the final shot rang out, white flares fired into the air, signaling the end of the match.

 _"Final score..."_ said the same mechanical voice that belonged to the announcer. _"Twenty nine to twenty six..."_

"I don't believe it," said the driver. Her voice sounded a little more nasal than Maho last remembered.

 _"Victory,"_ confirmed the announcer.

"We fucking did it!" shouted Hitomi. "We did- HOLY SHIT Asami your nose!" Hitomi's shout drew attention to the trickle of blood that was now making its way down their driver's face. Maho silently called for a pickup and a first aid kit through her headset. Injuries aside, this had been an incredible experience.

* * *

The cheers from the inside of the tank was mirrored by the Anglerfish team who had, once again, put food on hold to watch the match in Miho's apartment. They were relieved that the match had ended in a victory for the Kuromorimine girls.

"So that was what Née-chan wanted us to see," said Miho.

"That was intense!" said Yukari. "I wonder how much more footage there is of previous tournaments."

"As entertaining as that was, I wonder what was the purpose of us seeing that," said Hana to nobody in particular as she picked up her bowl of now half melted ice cream. Mako was in the middle of swallowing a bite of her apple as she raised her hand to signal she had something to say. She hastily swallowed and began her explanation.

"Isn't it obvious? This could be what we're doing in the future," said Mako. "Senshado hasn't exactly been doing well for the last ten years, so something has to change."

"Ooh! Does that mean there will be boys joining the sport?" said Saori suddenly. The stares she got back from the other girls ranged from incredulous to amused. "What!? It's a legitimate question!"

"Sorry Saori," said Miho. "Senshado has been an all girl sport since it began over seventy years ago. Suddenly making it mixed gender would alienate too many fans, and wouldn't actually attract enough new Senshado-ka."

"The rules allowing male coaches was only barely passed a few years ago, and, well, you don't see teams hurrying to pick up a male coach now, do you?" added Mako.

"I see," said Saori, looking slightly disappointed, taking a spoonful of ice cream. "I guess most guys would see being allowed to take part in Senshado like being told they could wear heels and a miniskirt in public."

"That, and Senshado hides the actual tankers from the spectators inside the tanks themselves," said Miho. "So there's almost no benefit to the sport itself with introducing mixed leagues because matches would still play out the same," she continued, putting that topic completely to rest.

"Ah, that's probably why we're mostly spared the crude treatment that female athletes in other sports get all the time," said Hana. "Shinzaburou did once say if I thought I had picked up a stalker fan to let him know immediately, but I guess I'm lucky enough not to have to worry about that." Yukari, Saori and Mako both looked over Hana as she sat watching the TV one thigh crossed over the other holding her dessert bowl in one hand delicately whilst sucking on her spoon of vanilla ice cream.

"Actually, aside from Nishizumi-dono, you should probably worry the most about stalkers," said Yukari matter of factly, a statement which was met with a curious 'hmm' from Hana.

"Didn't we meet because you were stalking Miporin in the parking lot Yukarin?" asked Saori mischievously. There was a moment of silence in the apartment interrupted only by the sound of the TV apparently talking about a 'Mizuchi Asuka'.

"I'm sorry," said Yukari after a few seconds, not realizing Saori was just teasing. This elicited a laugh out of the girls and a quick one armed hug from Saori.

"I'm kidding! I'm glad you joined the team regardless of how we first met," she said with a smile. "Now, what do you say we finish, er, drinking our ice creams I guess, before we get distracted by robots and their big guns again!" This time Hana almost spat her ice cream all over the table in laughter.

* * *

Maho had finally gotten into the cafeteria for a well earned post match meal. The rest of the team had taken seats around one of the tables. Maho collected her own meal, and sat to join the girls. To her surprise, Amelie was sat with them.

"Three cheers for our commander!" said Hitomi. "For a well lead victory!"

"And here's to a well fought match," added Amelie. She was still wearing her purple bodysuit and sported a visor with multiple lenses over her fore head almost acting like a hair band for her long purple hair, though she had unzipped the bodysuit down to loosen the material around her chest.

Maho took her seat and smiled back. She was about to say something back to all of them when a clattering of cutlery on the table behind Maho drew their attention. Behind them was sat an athletically built girl wearing a blue and white bodysuit, similar to Amelie's, with her black hair tied in a single low ponytail.

"Yeah, congrats on beating a machine that hasn't been in a single fight in the last six months, and hasn't won a fight in the last twelve," the girl said sarcastically. "Did you think the best teams would bother with the maintenance for a show match?"

"Hachijou!" snapped Amelie. "These are my friends!"

"I'm just giving them a reality check," replied the girl, turning to face them, scraping the bench on the cafeteria floor. The name badge on her chest read 'Hachijou Rei'. "If we're doing this in future, the Kuromorimine girls need to get some context. Because when it's go time, I'm not going to hold back on them just because they're clueless."

* * *

 **Next Time on Steel Carnage**

Anglerfish team were far from the only ones watching the Mecha Paintball. In contrast to Miho's busy yet clean apartment, the tenant of this one in the middle of Ooarai prefecture had left it more cluttered and chaotic. The TV was switched to the Mecha Paintball as the sole occupant ran on a treadmill intently watching the broadcast, the vibrations and tremors from her exercise threatening to dislodge a shelf full of gaming memorabilia onto a desk holding a top of the line custom built gaming PC. On the shelf a phone began to vibrate, the screen's bright blue glow lighting up a Quake Live mousemat which had been signed by a player named Ryujehong. The girl hit the emergency stop on the treadmill, and practically drifted over to her phone, and picked it up before it could knock over a statue of Kazuma Kiryuu.

"Mizuchi Asuka speaking... the Tengu is ready! Awesome... what do you mean it's not going to debut in the next Mecha Paintball event! Mitsubishi Heavy Industries spent so long on the development ... ... ... what the hell is Steel Carnage? And why are we talking to Senshado teams?"


	5. The Carnage Begins

**Chapter 04 - The Carnage Begins**

The sisters in law Nishizumi Shiho, chairwoman of the Japanese Senshado Federation and Amanomiya Kaoru, head organizer of the All Japan Robotics Festival, were preparing for a press conference. Shiho's black business suit contrasted with Kaoru's pink and green full dress as the two of them sat side behind a long table, waiting for the cameras to start rolling and the reporters to arrive. Looking around the hall, Shinzo noted that the seating capacity for this particular hall was the largest she had been in for a while.

They had some time left, so Shiho broke the silence.

"Some things never change," said Shiho with a smile, motioning to Kaoru's attire.

"Can't help it. It just feels like it's back to our college days of working together on another insane strategy or manoeuvre," said Kaoru smiling back, and sounding about ten years younger.

"For the record, your ideas were the insane ones."

"And this isn't? What we're about to do is probably Nishizumi Ryu taboo."

Shiho paused to consider her answer. She did admit that what they were doing seemed drastic, and a few years ago would have been unthinkable for her. But Senshado was living in an age where the acceptable wait for gratification was rapidly shrinking, and where the pace of life had overtaken the average human's rate of learning. It was why karate schools which produced Olympians and world champions were financially outperformed and numerically outnumbered by the McDojos which handed out black belts to immature children who had clocked enough hours and had therefore paid enough in tuition fees. This _had_ to be done.

"My grandmother would understand if she were still here, and my mother, well, she'll be haunting my dreams for a while," replied Shiho.

"You're gonna be OK though right?"

"I'm a grown woman with years of experience leading Senshado in Japan and a mother of two. I'll be fine." Before the conversation could continue further, a staff member signalled that they were going live in two minutes, cutting their discussion short.

"Then we have nothing to worry about." The conversation stopped here as reporters started filing in and taking positions around the conference hall. This was going to be an exciting conference for once…

* * *

The days following the All Japan Robotics Festival had been very exciting in the world of motorized sports. Both the Mecha and Tanksports communities were buzzing. The most viewed Senshado related videos for the past week had something to do with the Mecha versus Panzer showdown. The fight between the Panzer IV and the Black Widow had been replayed, highlighted and analysed so much that the fans were sure they could see the match in its entirety when they closed their eyes.

It was during this aftermath that Miho had been sent a message from her mother. Not a personal one, but rather one from the Japanese Senshado Federation itself. It was because of this message that Miho was holding a meeting with the student council, and was actually a little excited.

This excitement was apparently mirrored by at least the president of the student council, as when she knocked on the door, she was met with an enthusiastic 'come in' from Anzu. Miho was greeted by a familiar sight as she entered the student council office. The bespectacled Momo standing on Anzu's right and the conservatively dressed Yuzu on her left, both flanking the desk where the diminutive student council president with hidden depths sat.

"We've been expecting you Miho," said Anzu, steepling her fingers. Miho couldn't help but laugh.

"President, were you doing a super villain impression?" asked Miho.

"What do you think of it!?" replied Anzu with an enormous grin on her face. "Actually, lets talk about that after. So we got your message."

"Yes, about the Steel Carnage tournament. I'm glad we got seeded," said Miho. "The first question we need to answer is can we do it?"

"Well, it is during Christmas break, so we should be able to divert the ship to get us there," said Anzu. "There's just the issue of how to keep us competitive with the other teams."

"You mean with the new rules that allow Mecha to fight with the rest of he tanks?" said Miho. "We don't have any mechs on board, I don't think."

"Technically we do," said Yuzu. "Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has loaned Ooarai a few mech prototypes called... Raptors, that's what they're called, but they're all tasked withmaintaining the ship, so we can't spare any to go ashore at any time. The mechs don't belong to us and the pilots and staff aren't technically ship employees in either case."

"Well, we _are_ the reigning inter high champions. We should have an easier time securing a sponsor than most of the other teams," said Momo.

"Actually, that's not going to be enough," said Miho. "We're going into a new tournament with new rules and conditions, so naturally teams who can put forward more money for better tanks would be favored by sponsors."

"It's ok, I've actually taken the initiative and talked to some contacts," said Anzu. "The pilot for the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Mecha Paintball team comes from Ooarai. It was actually her idea to have the Raptors undergo trials on the Ooarai school ship, and she would love to come fight with us. We just have to give the word."

"Great. So we also need to take the time out to retrofit our tanks as well," said Miho. "I think we could do it ourselves if we get the equipment, but we still need to get the tanks inspected by the tournament organizers."

"Maybe if we could get the MHI team and the inspectors to come with the same flight," said Yuzu helpfully. "This would be something the president would have to organize though."

"Well leave it to me then!" said Anzu. "Before we let them into the team, would you like to interview the new additions?"

"If you could please," replied Miho. "I'd like to do trails as soon as the tanks are retrofitted."

"Well then, we need to get going!" said Anzu. "We'll officially announce it to the team the next practice after the press conference. So now that's been settled, what did you think?"

"Of what? Asked Miho, confused.

"My super villain impression of course!"

"Ugh prez!"

* * *

The next Senshado practice that the Ooarai team conducted was going to be virtually devoid of actual practice. The entire team had lined up, sans the student council who were absent, and Miho herself, who was standing at the front of the assembled teams. There was a certain level of excitement even though the teams knew that it would mostly be maintenance on the tanks today.

"Hello everyone, and thanks for coming," said Miho. "I'm sorry that we all have to do an extra practice today for maintenance, but we have to install new black boxes and internal equipment to fit the new regulations. Before we start, there are a few announcements I have to make. You may have heard about the new tournament Steel Carnage which will play out during our Christmas break." This was an understatement. The entire team had watched that press conference live, and a few had recorded it for posterity. "You may have heard a rumor that we have been invited to take part in Steel Carnage. It's true." The reaction from the team was immediate. Excited whisperings and some cheering was heard from that group and Miho couldn't help but smile. The next part of the pre-session brief would be a formality at this point. "Should we choose to accept, we would be going in as the number three seed, so we do not have to take part in qualifiers. Now, bearing in mind the schedule will take up time out of our Christmas break and will unfortunately cut into a few weeks of class in November and December, are there any who would _not_ like to do it." The response from the team was an energized silence. From the back, one of the Leopon team's hand flew into the air.

"Commander Nishizumi, will the tournament affect third year exams?"

"I've been given assurance that there will be no disruption to exams, though realistically you'll probably have to catch up on about three to four weeks of work in the new year," replied Miho. "But there is an internet connection and we're allowed to bring support staff to maintain the tanks, so if you want to do work between matches, you can."

"Where's the tournament going to be?" said Azusa from Rabbit team.

"We'll be back on land for this one. The teams will be living around the Tokyo Bay Area, and the matches will take place on an artificial island a few miles out to sea. So yes, your families will be able to stay with you."

Though no more questions came from the team, there was an abundance of chatter amongst the team. It died down as quickly as it started, and Miho continued to address the team.

"Well, that's it for the notices. As there have been new regulation changes to how safety in Senshado which will come into effect for the next seasion, we'll be installing new safety and optical equipment on the tanks today. The student council are currently busy with admin for Steel Carnage, and will be back with permission forms later. In the meantime, Leopon team are in charge of installing the new equipment on the Hetzer. If you have any problems, ask the automotive club for help. We'll debrief in four hours. Dismissed!"

* * *

Three hours into the practice, the student council returned. Momo was carrying a stack of papers, Yuzu was tapping away at her tablet and Anzu was munching on a dried sweet potato. As the Turtle team arrived, Momo went to work handing out permission slips to the rest of the team. Momo started to inspect the Hetzer's modifications, and Anzu began to debrief Miho about what they had done in a corner of the hangar which served as her office.

"So the team's getting into retrofitting their tanks? Great! Because we just got word back from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Mecha Paintball team," said Anzu. "She's flying in tomorrow, with a new mech. The whole team has to sign a few non-disclosure agreements when she lands."

"Is secrecy such a big deal in Mecha Paintball?" asked Miho.

"Short answer, yes. I'll let the pilot explain that herself when she gets here," replied Anzu. "The student council has to meet her to figure out the accommodation for the teams and where to actually store her machine. Our sailing path though means that we won't actually be able to practice with the new mech for two weeks."

"Great, thanks for letting me know," said Miho. "Senshado wise, we're doing fine retrofitting the tanks to match new regulations. Leopon finished installing the equipment to their basic settings, but you guys need to calibrate the equipment yourselves," she continued.

"Will do!" replied Anzu. "In the meantime, the MHI team wanted you to have this. Its information about the Walking Tank and the pilot." She wandered off towards the Hetzer, leaving behind Miho holding a white flash drive decorated with what appeared to be a sticker of a cartoony frog character.

 _'Well, nothing to it, lets take a look at what we're getting,'_ thought Miho.

* * *

Though Ooarai was seeded third for Steel Carnage, their sailing route meant that they would be getting their walking tanks later than the other three seeds as they were not close enough to the mainland. Katyusha had figured out that with the current schedule, Pravda was actually the first to pick up their walking tank.

It was because of this that their latest practice had taken on a slightly more playful tone, even if it was a bit of a wakeup call.

The T34 crews were in a practice skirmish, in an area with plenty of artificial hills and open ground interspersed with pockets of trees. Nonna, in the tank designated as Number One for this skirmish, was leading a team of five tanks. The T34 designated as Number Two was the other third year crewed T34 on Nonna's team, and three first year crews designated Five Six and Seven were the last three on the imaginatively named Blue team. They were up against two middle of the road second year crews, Numbers Three and Four, and their walking tank on the Red team. It was _supposed_ to be a five versus three to test out their latest addition, but when Blue Team's Number Six was sniped from the opposite end of the battle area within in the first minute of the skirmish by the Walking Tank, Katyusha had already made up her mind about how capable their newest addition was. Especially since in the ensuing scramble for cover, the Walking Tank managed to take another shot that tracked Number Two by threading the needle between Five and One, so that Number Four could have an easy shot at it.

The walking tank was practically a ghost. Although Katyusha knew exactly what the machine looked like, what its specs were, and how its pilot preferred to fight, she admitted that the only reason she could pick it out was due to the aerial view she had of the battle thanks to a fleet of drones hovering over the fight, and the black boxes of all the tanks involved sending GPS and telemetry data back to the diminutive third year, so that she could analyse their performance.

BOOM

Another shot came from the treeline. This one was from Number Three, plinking Number Seven's hull. Nonna's tank was travelling with it, however it did not seem to react to the shot.

This was a classic strategy in a smaller, less organized skirmish; get your target to turn its turret, or better, its hull one way, so that it would be exposed from a flanking enemy. Nonna had seen this strategy at work, so she did not flinch. However Number Seven's crew, having only competed in middle school level Senshado, was unfamiliar with this move, so they started to turn their turret and their hull to the left. Their punishment was instant. A pair of grappling cables shot out of the treeline, and attached itself to the right side of Number Seven's hull. A four legged machine leapt out from the trees, crossing the thirty metre gap with incredible speed assisted by the pull of the cables. Its momentum sent it soaring past the T34, the magnetized cables disconnecting from its armour to allow it freedom of movement once its maximum speed had been reached. It skidded across the dirt, scarring the ground with its four enormous feet as it went.

 _'Amelie_ did _say that the Black Panther needed to have its soft ground foot attachments… so, does that mean that stupid walking tank was actually handicapped!?'_

A quick shot into the back of the Number Seven's turret had sealed the kill. However, the mech didn't hang around. The four legged machine, which Katyusha would have written off as a tank destroyer on legs if it weren't for the agility it had displayed again and again, skittered off before Nonna's tank could get a bead on it.

"I'm calling an end to the skirmish!" said Katyusha over the radio. "We need to use the training grounds for more practice, and I'm not increasing the repair time for nothing," she clarified.

There were affirmative replies from all the teams involved. Katyusha noted that despite being completely stomped by the Walking Tank, Nonna's Third and First year teams were not dejected at all. Once they restored the grounds, Katyusha would need to have her teams practice taking down the Black Panther.

 _'Though… if we fight like this, we won't have any problems crushing everyone else,'_ thought Katyusha.

* * *

A/N: So I'm in a weird position again, because Girls und Panzer Das Finale is a thing now, and it is likely a lot of what happens in that will contradict what I do with Steel Carnage.


	6. Mizuchi Asuka

**Chapter 05 – Mizuchi Asuka**

The entire Senshado team were waiting near the tank garages, anticipating a new arrival. As promised, the next day they would be getting an airdrop from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. They had cleared out the parking lot in order to allow their newest arrivals to land.

"So, what can you tell us about Mizuchi?" asked Hana to Miho.

"She's known in the Mecha Paintball scene for highly calculated gambits that look like last ditch desperation manoeuvres," said Miho. "They say she can practically read her opponent's mind."

"Sound a lot like the Nishizumi-Ryu legends circulating in Senshado," said Mako. Her smirk had not gone unnoticed by Anzu who was also trying to suppress a smile.

"Hah! Yeah, turns out they weren't as invincible as the rumours suggested," laughed Saori.

"Well, as for Mizuchi Asuka, she's the undisputed High Mobility Armoured Tactics Division Champion," said Momo. She had overheard the conversation and wanted to add her own input. She was reading off a profile document on her phone. "The rules for that type of match are a lot more complicated than Senshado."

"You mean the format where you have to 'collect ammunition' and 'armour packs' from around the battle area?" asked Yukari.

"That's the one. The matches may be lower scoring than the Standard Events, but on top of pilot skill, there's a need to understand how to contest and prioritize battlefield control."

"Sounds complex," said Miho.

"The format's basically Quake with giant robots," said Yukari.

"Funny you should mention that," said Momo as she adjusted her glasses. "She apparently streams first person shooters like Quake and Overwatch whenever she gets the chance."

The sound of the approaching plane halted their conversation, as it dropped lower and lower to the deck of the ship.

"You know, having a plane fly out like this for what is essentially an amateur sport is a little much," said Mako as she stared at the incoming aircraft. "Does the MHI Mecha Paintball team have that much sway?"

"Its not just Mecha Paintball now," said Miho. "Its _Steel Carnage_. This tournament is giving Mecha Paintball a huge boost, so MHI wants to be part of that rapid growth."

"Oh! The cargo door's opening!" said Yuzu. The plane dropped down towards the ground with its cargo bay open. A set of drogue chutes appeared from the rear of the plane, dragging out a series of pallets from the back of the aircraft. First three trucks containers flew out of the back of the plane, skidding across the parking lot, followed by a pair of black Mitsubishi Outlanders. It seemed that the MHI staff were not exactly on board with the whole World War 2 vehicle theme that the schools seemed to prefer, instead favouring corporate vehicles.

Then _it_ came into view.

The last pallet was larger than the others, and had Ooarai's walking tank strapped to it. Its digitigrade legs were momentarily tucked in under its torso as it left the plane, before suddenly straightening up to allow the pallet the touch the ground.

There was a large crunch as the mech landed in the abandoned parking lot, and trailed sparks as it skidded across the ground.

Once the machine slowed down, Miho was better able to appreciate how different it was to the tanks that she was used to working with.

Drawn to its full height, the machine was about nine metres tall, with long three part digitigrade legs supporting a torso roughly the same shape and size as an SUV with its front tapered to a beak like point. It vaguely reminded Miho of a submarine with legs sticking out of the back. There was a head like turret mounted on the front of the torso with a short but high calibre gun sticking out the front. Where you'd normally expect the shoulder joints on the left and the right were a pair of articulations, each with a series of flat roughly rectangular counterweights that decreased in length towards the back, laid out in a fan formation. As the mech landed, they were extended backwards and upwards to counterbalance and possibly brake for the mech. Miho realized why the mech was was called the Tengu; its shoulder mounted counterweights looked like wings to her, and as she looked towards its rear, she noticed there were two shorter flat counterweights fanning out in a V formation, like a swallow's tail.

Miho was inwardly glad that they'd cleared a landing zone, unlike when Ami Chouno first arrived.

The black mech slowed to a halt, and stepped off the metal pallet, both of its feet landing on the tarmac with a clunk as the front two toes of each foot dampened the impact. The mech walked over to the chain link fence separating the parking lot from the tank garage, whilst a loudspeaker crackled to life. A girl's voice came out of the loudspeaker.

"Er guys, can you clear a landing area on the tarmac? I'm about to jump over the fence."

There was a scramble to get out of the way. The girls from the rest of the team had gathered around to see the new arrival without Miho noticing. The trucks were already making their way around to the tank garage. The mech ducked down, bending its legs and raising the two counterweights on its back upwards and forwards, the long cylindrical weights extending above the torso.

With a whoosh, the mech's legs extended, pushing its torso upwards, the shoulder mounted counterweights flicking downwards launching the body up and over the chain link fence, then landing with a loud crunch as the mech's feet collided with the tarmac. The mech crouched over as it landed, the leg joints bending to absorb the impact, and the rear shoulder mounted counterweights flicked out to the sides to maintain the machine's balance.

Then the cockpit opened up. The front of the torso split open, and from the inside, a girl not much older than Miho wearing a red and black bodysuit stepped out. Her shoulder length hair had a single dyed red streak in its fringe that blew in the wind as she descended on a wire, lowering her down to the ground.

Miho had walked up to the mech after the dust had literally settled, and extended a hand to pilot.

"I need to get used to the mobility of that thing," said the girl under her breath, barely audible to Miho. She looked at Miho in the eye and smiled. "Yo! I'm Mizuchi Asuka, your new pilot."

She hopped off the cable and held out her hand and shook Miho's hand. There was a commotion in the parking lot as staff came to move the containers.

"I'm NIshizumi Miho," said Miho, shaking Asuka's hand. "I'm team captain of the Senshado team. Is that your Walking Tank?"

" _Our_ Walking Tank," said Asuka. "That's the MHI Tengu." Looking at the form of the machine, the two counterweights on its back would give the impression of wings, with a bit of imagination of course. "Well, anyway, this landing is probably the most the Mech can take for one day. I won't be able to join you for practice today if that what you were hoping."

"Oh, no, that's fine," said Miho. "I think you and your team need to get settled."

"Great!" said Asuka. "Because we, er, need access to your tank hangar." She pointed to the crowd of engineers untying their vehicles from their landing pallets. Some of them waved back to the girls when they noticed they were being watched. "And you probably won't be able to get tanks in and out for about a day."

"Oh… that's OK," said Miho. "We were having a day off practice anyway."

"Are we allowed to have male students on this ship?" asked Saori.

"Ah! Right! The students from the Mitsubishi Engineering program!" said Anzu. "Yeah, I've sorted their accommodations already, but for now, I think it's more important to get the parking lot cleared up…"

"OK! Well, that's it for introductions," said Asuka. "I've got to go help the crews finish up with the hangar, but we'll see you next practice!"

"Great!" said Anzu, drawing the meeting to a close. "If you have any questions, you got my number right?"

"Yep. We'll be there next practice," said Asuka. In a flash, she had ascended into the Mech's cockpit and walked it over towards the mech support staff.

* * *

The next two days came and went, and it seemed like the next Senshado practice was upon them in a flash.

Miho was the second to the Senshado grounds that afternoon. Asuka didn't have any classes, so she was able to pretty much focus on just Steel Carnage. She saw the mech stood in front of the hangar long before she had arrived.

In idle mode, the Mech was crouched down, with the front of the cockpit now about the height of a chin up bar off the ground; even the first years of Rabbit team could in theory get inside the machine unaided. The turret mounted on top didn't look anywhere near as intimidating now that it was up close: she was sure that the only gun that was worse was that on the Chi Nu. Miho couldn't quite reconcile the fact that just two days ago, the machine was towering over their heads, standing on its three pronged, bird talon like feet.

Asuka herself was on a laptop. On one half of the screen, there was a 3D model of the Tengu, doing various movements on simulated terrain. On the other half, she was playing a tower defence game.

"Hey," said Asuka, waving without even turning around. "You're here early."

"As captain I have to be here early," said Miho. "What're you doing?"

"Me?" said Asuka, motioning towards her screen. "I'm updating the movement patterns on the Tengu. And I'm playing Bloons Tower Defence 5. Don't judge." Miho wasn't judging, though she did find it amusing that she was sensitive about her slacking off before practice. She'd get along with the rest of the team just fine. "Anyway, the Tengu's systems are ready to go. I'm good to take part in practice today."

"I see…" said Miho. "Well then I look forward to today's session."

The Ooarai Senshado team had assembled shortly afterwards. The girls had shown varying degrees of wonder and interest in the machine that was sitting next to the briefing area, from the near reverence of Anteater team ("Snake, this is a sneaking mission!") to the distracted glances that the Disciplinary Committee were giving the mech as they tried in vain to get Rabbit team to stop running around its legs ("bring it down and attack the nape of its neck!").

The overall atmosphere with the new mech now present in all its glory with the team was different to what Miho was used to.

The training exercise she had planned would be interesting enough as well.

"Alright everyone! Assemble!" called Momo over the megaphone.

The teams stopped horsing around almost immediately. The team all lined up in front of the podium, some a little more composed than others. Miho noted with a flash of pride that the team's discipline was rapidly approaching the same discipline that was instilled in Kuromorimie's girls, but the team had managed to keep their personalities almost intact and were much better friends with each other as a result.

"Welcome to practice today," said Miho. "I've got a few notices for today before we start, so please listen up." She gestured towards Mizuchi Asuka, who was with the team lined up on the right and front wearing a G suit, and what appeared to be a flight helmet tucked in underneath her arm. "This is Mizuchi Asuka-san, our Walking Tank pilot. She will be joining us in practice today in the Tengu." Asuka gave a goofy thumbs up, eliciting some laughter from the first years, which promptly ended with a glare from Momo. "So here is the schedule. All tank crews will drill on the basics for an hour, before we begin mock two versus two battles within the team. Yes?"

Miho had anticipated that she would need to field questions from somebody in the team, and this time it was from the ever curious first years.

"Will the mecha be fighting as well?" asked Aya.

"Yes. Once we're ready, Asuka will be taking part in two on two battles," replied Miho. There were murmurs of excitement from the team as she said this. However the attentive ones amongst the Senshado team noticed Asuka grinning.

Miho had noticed too. The grin wasn't an enthusiastic happy grin. It was one with slightly smug undertones. Like she knew something that nobody else on the team did.

This was going to be an interesting exercise.


End file.
